Systems and methods for online data-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are disclosed for online data-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution. One method includes receiving call data relating to a telephone call from a telephone device of a user to an interactive voice response (“IVR”) system; accessing a database storing correlated call data and user data; retrieving correlated call data and user data based on the telephone number of the call data; determining a confidence score defining a confidence that the received call data relates to the retrieved correlated call data and user data; correlating the received call data with retrieved call data and user data when the confidence score is greater than a threshold value; determining an IVR response to present to the user via the IVR system; and transmitting the determined IVR response to the IVR system for presentation to the telephone device of the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This patent application is a continuation of and claims the benefit ofpriority to U.S. application Ser. No. 15/159,080, filed on May 19, 2016,which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 14/957,961, filed on Dec. 3, 2015, now U.S. Pat.No. 9,374,464, issued Jun. 21, 2016, the entireties of which areincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to using call data and online data frommultiple systems, of users who opt-in, for use in providing responsesfrom interactive voice response systems that are targeted to a user.

BACKGROUND

Interactive voice response (“IVR”) systems have become a popular methodby which businesses interact with their users. IVR systems allowbusinesses to classify the reason a user is calling and/or allowbusinesses to direct users to an appropriate contact to address a user'sreason for calling. IVR systems have allowed businesses to reduceoperating costs by reducing telephone related staffing requirements.Such IVR systems typically answer incoming telephone calls and presentpredetermined menus and predetermined options to the user.

In an IVR system, the predetermined menus are typically presented, and auser must navigate the static menus to find an answer to the reason forthe call. Navigating through such predetermined menus can be timeconsuming and frustrating, especially if the caller makes an incorrectselection during the navigation process. Users may be presented withmenus unrelated to the user's reason for calling, because of thepredetermined and static nature of the menus and options.

The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of theabove-referenced challenges, for example, by using call data and onlinedata from multiple systems of users who opt-in, for use in providing IVRresponses that are targeted to a user and include content and/oradvertisements relevant to his or her call to an IVR system.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments of the present disclosure include systems and methods foronline data-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, computer-implementedmethods for online data-linked telecommunications decisioning anddistribution are disclosed. One method includes receiving, over anelectronic network, call data relating to a telephone call from atelephone device of a user to an interactive voice response (“IVR”)system, the call data including a telephone number of the telephonedevice of the user; accessing, by at least one processor, a databasestoring correlated call data and user data; retrieving, by the at leastone processor, correlated call data and user data based on the telephonenumber of the call data; determining, by the at least one processor, aconfidence score defining a confidence that the received call datarelates to the retrieved correlated call data and user data;correlating, by the at least one processor, the received call data withretrieved call data and user data when the confidence score is greaterthan a threshold value; determining, by the at least one processor, anIVR response to present to the user via the IVR system, based on thecorrelated call data and user data; and transmitting, over theelectronic network, the determined IVR response to the IVR system forpresentation to the telephone device of the user.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a systems for onlinedata-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution are alsodisclosed. One system includes a data storage device that storesinstructions system for online data-linked telecommunicationsdecisioning and distribution; and a processor configured to execute theinstructions to perform a method including: receiving, over anelectronic network, call data relating to a telephone call from atelephone device of a user to an interactive voice response (“IVR”)system, the call data including a telephone number of the telephonedevice of the user; accessing a database storing correlated call dataand user data; retrieving correlated call data and user data based onthe telephone number of the call data; determining a confidence scoredefining a confidence that the received call data relates to theretrieved correlated call data and user data; correlating the receivedcall data with retrieved call data and user data when the confidencescore is greater than a threshold value; determining an IVR response topresent to the user via the IVR system, based on the correlated calldata and user data; and transmitting, over the electronic network, thedetermined IVR response to the IVR system for presentation to thetelephone device of the user.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, non-transitorycomputer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by acomputer, cause the computer to perform a method for online data-linkedtelecommunications decisioning and distribution are disclosed. Themethod of the non-transitory computer-readable medium including:receiving, over an electronic network, call data relating to a telephonecall from a telephone device of a user to an interactive voice response(“IVR”) system, the call data including a telephone number of thetelephone device of the user; accessing, by at least one processor, adatabase storing correlated call data and user data; retrieving, by theat least one processor, correlated call data and user data based on thetelephone number of the call data; determining, by the at least oneprocessor, a confidence score defining a confidence that the receivedcall data relates to the retrieved correlated call data and user data;correlating, by the at least one processor, the received call data withretrieved call data and user data when the confidence score is greaterthan a threshold value; determining, by the at least one processor, anIVR response to present to the user via the IVR system, based on thecorrelated call data and user data; and transmitting, over theelectronic network, the determined IVR response to the IVR system forpresentation to the telephone device of the user.

Additional objects and advantages of the disclosed embodiments will beset forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will beapparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of thedisclosed embodiments. The objects and advantages of the disclosedembodiments will be realized and attained by means of the elements andcombinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the scope of disclosed embodiments, as setforth by the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate various exemplary embodiments andtogether with the description, serve to explain the principles of thedisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 1 depicts a schematic diagram of a network environment for onlinedata-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution, accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts a schematic diagram of an exemplary interactive voiceresponse system, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of an exemplary method for onlinedata-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution, accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 is a simplified functional block diagram of a computer configuredas a device for executing the method of FIG. 3, according to exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure.

It is to be understood that the figures are not necessarily drawn toscale, nor are the objects in the figures necessarily drawn to scale inrelationship to one another. The figures are depictions that areintended to bring clarity and understanding to various embodiments ofapparatuses, systems, and methods disclosed herein. Wherever possible,the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to referto the same or like parts. Moreover, it should be appreciated that thedrawings are not intended to limit the scope of the present teachings inany way.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Specific embodiments of the present disclosure will now be describedwith reference to the drawings.

In an exemplary embodiment, a user may call a business having an IVRsystem. The IVR system may determine an identity of the user based on atelephone number of the user, and/or the IVR may transmit the telephonenumber of the user to a correlating system for determining the identityof the user. During or after determining the user identity, the IVRsystem may present the user with a number of menu options in order toaddress the user's reason for telephoning the business and/or IVRsystem. The menu options that are presented to the user may be generatedbased on the call data and user data stored in a database in associationwith the user's identity. For example, if the user likes sports, themenu options presented to the user may be sports related. Additionally,the IVR system may present advertisements to the user based on call dataand user data. When the user interacts with the IVR system, theinteractions, along with previously stored call data and user data maybe used to determine a response by the IVR system.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods that may providedynamic interactive voice response (“IVR”) systems that can providetargeted content and/or advertisements based on telephone calls by usersto IVR systems and based on online user data related to the user makingthe telephone call.

In some embodiments, users and/or businesses may elect to provide anopt-in preference that reflects their desire to transmit and/or receivecall data and/or user data to a correlating system. When a user and/orbusiness opts-in to provide call data and/or user data, the call dataand/or user may be used to present content and/or advertisements thatrelate to specific topics of interests in lieu of standard contentand/or advertisements presented in a static IVR system. The opt-inpreferences may be a user-provided opt-in preference and/or abusiness-provided opt-in preference regarding telephone call data and/oruser data that they wish to have used to order to provide targetedadvertisement and/or content during an IVR session with an IVR system,instead of receiving static content and/or advertisements that istypically presented in in a static IVR system. Accordingly, specificinformation relating to a user's and/or a business's preferences may beprovided in content and/or advertising spaces in lieu of traditionalpresentation of advertisements or content.

In order for the IVR system to be able to use online data in decisioningand distribution, browsers and applications on a user's computingdevice, such as a laptop computer and/or mobile phone, may provide auser's associated user identifier to a publisher and/or advertiser whenthe user visits a web page or uses an application. The user identifiermay be used to lookup corresponding user data about the user in order toprovide content and/or advertisements that are relevant to the user.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, call data related toa user's phone call to an IVR system may be used to provide targetedcontent and/or advertisements to the user during an IVR session. Calldata may be received during a user's phone call to an IVR system of abusiness. The call data may be used by the IVR system in determiningtargeted content and/or advertisements to present to the user during anIVR session. Alternatively the IVR system may transmit call data relatedto the user's interactions with the IVR system to a correlating systemthat may use the call data, with other user data, to determine targetedcontent and/or advertisements for presentation to the user during theIVR session.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of a telecommunications and onlineenvironment 100 in which telephone call data and online user data may beused for providing dynamic menu option, targeted content, and/oradvertising within an IVR system, according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. A correlating system 102 may correlate call data,such as the telephone number of a user device, with user data associatedwith the user and stored in a database 102A. The correlation between thecall data and user data may be used to provide dynamic menu options,targeted content, and/or advertising to the user within an IVR system,via a user's computing device 108 and/or through a telephone and/ormobile device 106.

The correlating system 102 may receive call data via a public switchedtelephone network (“PSTN”) and/or a mobile telephone network 116 fromthe telephone and/or mobile device 106 of the user. The correlatingsystem 102 may also receive user data via a network 118, such as theInternet, a private network, a public network, a wired network, and/or awireless network, from the computing device 108 of the user. In cases inwhich the telephone and/or mobile device 106 is a smart phone, thetelephone and/or mobile device 106 and the computing device 108 may bethe same device.

A user, using the telephone and/or mobile device 106, may connect to thetelephone network 116 by calling one or more telephone numbersassociated with respective businesses 126. When a user calls a desiredbusiness 126, he or she may be dialing a phone number associated withthe desired business. The dialed number may allow the call to be routedthrough the PSTN or mobile phone network 116 to the business 126. Thetelephone call may be routed directly to the desired business 126,and/or routed indirectly through an onboarding system 104 for collectingcall data. In an embodiment, a business 126 may have an interactivevoice response (“IVR”) system 136 to automate the interaction with theuser.

A telephone and/or mobile device 106 of the user may connect to the IVRsystem 136 via the PSTN or mobile phone network 116 directly and/orindirectly through one or both of business 126 and onboarding system104. The IVR system 136 may include one or more applications thatreceives and processes one or both of voice input and keypad input fromthe user. The IVR system 136 may respond to the user based on thereceived voice and/or keypad input. The IVR system 136 may also receiveinput from one or more of onboarding system 104, business 126, and/orcorrelating system 102 in order to interact with the user.

The voice and keypad inputs from the user to the IVR system 136 may bein response to options presented within an IVR menu. The IVR system 136may generate targeted menus and/or options for a particular user basedupon voice input, keypad input, and/or input from one or more ofonboarding system 104, business 126, and/or correlating system 102. TheIVR system 136 may also store IVR interaction data of the user in an IVRdatabase 142 (FIG. 2). Additionally, the IVR system 136 may transmit theIVR interaction data to one or more businesses 126 and/or correlatingsystem 102.

Call data relating to a telephone call initiated by a user may betransmitted to the correlating system 102 by one or more of the business126, onboarder system 104, and/or the IVR system 136. Call data mayinclude one or more of call metadata, a telephone number dialed, atelephone number of the dialer, a call time, a call date, a length ofthe phone call, a type of the goods and/or services provided by thebusiness associated with the telephone number, responses to an IVRsystem 136, data related to the user calling, and/or other data providedby the business 126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder system 104

A user, using a computing device 108, may interact with websites hostedby publishers servers 110 via network 118. Data related to the identityand/or interactions between the computing device 108 of the user andpublisher servers 110 connected via network 118 may be used to generateuser data stored in database 110A.

For example, the computing device 108 may execute a web browser or otherapplication that is used to interact with a publisher website, such asHuffington Post, Engadget, New York Times, Facebook, etc. The computingdevice 108 may be a personal computer, laptop computer, notebookcomputer, tablet computer, smartphone, portable media player, gamingdevice, or other computing device that allows a user to access websitesand/or applications associated with publisher servers 110.

The computing device 108, via network 118, such as the Internet, mayconnect to websites and/or applications of publisher server 110. Forexample, the computing device 108 may receive, display, and interactwith the publisher server 110 via HTTP and/or other supportedcommunication protocol. To allow the user's online activity to beidentified, a publisher server 110 may use a user identifier to identifyactivities of the user each time the publisher server 110 is connectedto by the computing device 108 of the user. The user identifier may be acookie associated with a browser, a unique device identifier such as anInternational Mobile Station Equipment Identity (“IMEI”) number, anInternational Mobile Subscriber Identifier (“IMSI”), or other identifierthat may be placed on the computing device 108 and/or read by thepublisher server 110. For example, if a computing device 108 visits awebsite, the publisher server 110 may place a cookie on the computingdevice 108 reflecting the website session and certain activities thatwere performed. The publisher server 110 may store a record of theuser's interaction with the website and/or application, includingdetails regarding any advertisements that were served by the publisherto the user's computing device 108 in a publisher server database 110A.If the computing device 108 visits the website of the publisher server110 again, then additional interactions and advertisements may beassociated with the user by virtue of the stored cookie and/or otheruser identifier. The user data stored in the publisher server database110 a may be transmitted to the correlating system 102 to populate theuser data stored in correlating system database 102A, and may be used tocorrelate the user data with the call data stored in the correlatingsystem database 102A.

The correlating system 102 may correlate user identifiers representingonline activities of users with telephone numbers associated with eachuser. A user identifier (e.g., a cookie, a device or subscriberidentifier, a user ID) may be provided by a website of a publisherserver 110 and/or other party to identify the online behavior of a user.The correlation between user identifier and telephone number may beexplicitly identified, such as when a user provides a phone number to awebsite as part of a log-in process or as part of a purchase of a goodor service through a website.

For example, publisher server 110 may receive a telephone number of atelephone and/or mobile device 106 by the user providing the telephonenumber as part of a transaction with a publisher website. For example,the user may order goods and services from the website by filling out atransaction form and include a name, address, telephone number, paymentinformation, and other details. If the user provides a telephone numberas part of a transaction with the website of the publisher server 110,the publisher server 110 may be able to correlate the online activitiesof the user, including any advertisements presented to the user, withthe user's telephone number.

The correlation between user identifier and telephone number may also beimplicitly identified, such as when a identification telephone number isdisplayed in an advertisement on a user's computing device 108, and atelephone call is received to that identification telephone numberwithin a threshold period after display of the advertisement. Because ofthe inherent uncertainty in drawing correlations between useridentifiers and telephone numbers, the correlating system 102 mayinclude a confidence score associated with the user data and call data.The confidence score may represent the likelihood that a particulartelephone number is correlated with a particular user identifier.

After correlating call data and user data with a particular user,targeted advertising via the telephone and/or mobile device 106, thecomputing device 108, and/or the IVR system 136 may be implemented byusing either one or both of user data and call data. The correlatingsystem 102 may use user data and call data stored in database 102A toidentify users that may be re-targeted on behalf of a business 126and/or IVR system 136 called by a user. The user may be re-targeted viaone or more of telephone and/or mobile device 106, IVR system 136,and/or the computing device 108.

The correlating system 102 may also be used for targeted advertising tousers. For example, businesses 126 and/or IVR system 136 may bereceiving telephone calls from potential customers that do not result ina conversion, such as a sale and/or information about the user. Forexample, a user may call a business 126 and/or IVR system 136 to inquireabout a product and/or services. When the business 126 and/or IVR system136 receives the call from the user, the business 126 and/or IVR system136 may be able to identify the user calling from caller ID. However,the business 126 and/or IVR system 136 may not receive, for example, auser's address and/or reason for calling. In order to targetadvertisements to those users that have failed to provide certaininformation to the business 126 and/or IVR system 136 as a result of thetelephone call, the business 126 and/or IVR system 136 may provide calldata, such as the user's telephone number and the type of goods and/orservices provided by business 126 and/or IVR system 136 to correlatingsystem 102. The business 126 and/or IVR system 136 may also provide anadvertisement and/or request a certain action to be taken by correlatingsystem 102.

Using the correlating system database 102A, the correlating system 102may identify a user identifier that is associated with the telephonenumber. The correlating system 102 may use the identified useridentifier, and provide user data and call data to publisher servers 110and/or IVR system 136 to target advertisements to the user via thecomputing device 108 of the user and/or via the telephone and/or mobiledevice 106 of the user. Thus, the correlating system 102 allows usercalls to businesses 126 and/or IVR system 136 by telephone and/or mobiledevice 106 to be re-targeted by targeted advertising provided onwebsites of publisher servers 110 visited by the computing device 108.Further, the correlating system 102 allows user calls to businesses 126,previous calls to IVR system 136, and/or interactions by the user withwebsites of publisher servers 110 to be used for dynamically updatingIVR menus, or targeting advertisements to the user via IVR system 136.

Publisher servers 110 may transmit user data to the correlating system102. The user data transmitted by publisher servers 102 may include useridentifiers, impression data, and/or activity data. The user impressiondata received from publisher server 110 may be, for example, the displayof an advertisement to the user, and/or a purchase of an item from awebsite by the user. The activity data may be, for example, a time anddate of an interaction, a price of the goods and/or services viewedand/or ordered, a quantity of the goods and/or services order, and/orother information associated with an impression. User identifiers may bea user ID, a phone number that the user provided, address information,and/or log-in information. While the embodiments discussed hereindescribe the correlating system 102 receiving user data from a singlepublisher server 110, the correlating system 102 may receive user datafrom multiple publisher servers of multiple publishers.

As discussed above, the correlating system 102 may also receive calldata of users' telephone calls to businesses 126 and/or IVR system 136.When a user dials a business 126 and/or IVR system 136, the business126, IVR system 136, PSTN and/or a mobile telephone network 116, and/oronboarder system 104 may determine the phone number associated with thetelephone and/or mobile device 106 of the user by using, among otherthings, a caller identification (“caller ID”) service. With a caller IDservice, the user's telephone number may be transmitted to the IVRsystem's and/or business's 126 telephone equipment during the ringingsignal, and/or when the call is being set up but before the call isanswered. The detected telephone number may be captured and stored bythe business 126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder system 104. Calldata, which may include information relating to the interactions betweenthe business 126 and/or IVR system 136 and the user, may be maintainedby the business 126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder system 104. Thecall data may then be transmitted by the business 126, IVR system 136,and/or onboarder system 104 to the correlating system 102. Additionally,the call data may be transmitted to IVR system 136 by the business 126and/or onboarder system 104.

The call data provided by business 126 and/or IVR system 136 may be usedby the correlating system 102 to provided dynamic menu options, targetedcontent, and/or advertisements to users during telephone calls with anIVR system 136. Call data may include data related to an interaction ofa user with a business 126 and/or IVR system 136. For example, call datamay include data that indicates a characterization of the user'stransaction with the business 126 and/or IVR system 136, such as thatthe user called to inquire about the address of the business 126 or theuser called IVR system 136 to inquire about his or her statement. Calldata may also include the telephone phone number of the telephone and/ormobile device 106 of the user, a time and a date of when the telephonecall occurred, and/or a duration of the telephone call. If the business126 has an IVR system 136, call data may also include the user's voiceinput and/or keypad input to the IVR system 136 and/or responses of theIVR system 136. Business 126 and/or IVR system 136 may also provide calldata that relates to the user, such as the name, an address, and/or anemail address of the user. While the embodiments discussed hereindescribe the correlating system 102 receiving call data from a business126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder system 104, the correlating system102 may alternatively receive user data from multiple businesses, IVRsystems, and/or onboarder systems.

Once the correlating system 102 receives call data and user data, eachof businesses 126, IVR system 136, and/or publisher servers 110 may usethe correlating system 102 to provide dynamic menu options in an IVRsystem that include targeted content and/or advertisements, to providetargeted content and/or advertisements to the user through his or hercomputing device when he or she visits a website, and/or by businessreaching out to its users.

In the course of performing IVR operations, the IVR system 136 mayaccess an IVR database 142 and/or correlating system 102. The IVRdatabase 142 may store information about particular users, IVR systemparameters, as well as IVR interactions by the user. The IVR database142 may also may also be replaced by the correlating system database102.

FIG. 2 depicts and exemplary IVR system, according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the IVR system 136 may include one or more IVRapplications 138, one or more IVR servers 130, and one or more IVRdatabases 142. In one embodiment, the IVR system 136 may be a separateelement of the correlating system 102. In another embodiment, the IVRsystem 136 may be replaced by correlating system 102. The IVR system 136may alternatively be implemented by multiple servers in a distributedfashion. Consequently, there are many potential configurations for theIVR system 136, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The IVR applications 138 may include one or more of a voice processorapplication, an identification application, a recordation application,and/or a menu application. The voice processor application may providevoice processing features, such as a speech recognition engine thatrecognizes speech and a voice processing system for matching asubscriber voice to a known subscriber voice profile for purposes ofspeaker identification, a text-to-speech system for converting text toan audio stream, as well as an audio playback system. The voiceprocessor application may be communicatively linked to a database, suchas the IVR server 140 and/or IVR database 142.

The identification application may determine an identity for the userconnection to the IVR system 136. The identity of the user may bedetermined based upon the telephone number associated with the telephoneand/or mobile device 106 of the user. Alternately, the identificationprogram may transmit the telephone number of the user to correlatingsystem 102 for identification of the user. In another embodiment, theuser may provide identification information to the identificationprogram directly.

Once the user has been identified, the IVR system 136 may access andstore call data and/or user data of the user stored in IVR database 142and/or provided by correlating system 102. The recordation applicationmay record user interactions and IVR responses corresponding to theuser's interactions. For example, the recordation program may updatedata relating to the user's interactions with the IVR system 136 andstore the updated data in IVR database 142 and/or transmit the data tocorrelating system 102 for storage.

The menu application may generate a customized menu, customized content,and/or customized advertisements based upon the correlated data receivedwithin the IVR system 136. In one embodiment, the menu application maygenerate an option menu and may present this option menu to the user.The generated menu may include one or more options. For example, theuser may be presented with a series of four menu options each associatedwith a keypad number and/or a voice command for a number. When the calldata and user data reflects that the user is a sports fan, thecustomized menu, customized content, and/or customized advertisementsmay related to sports topics.

The menu application may also generate content for a customized menubased upon the received inputs from the user, call data, and/or userdata. For example, in one embodiment, the menu application may generatean menu options that highlights sports information if the call dataand/or user data indicates that the user likes sports content. When thecall data and user data reflects that the user is a coffee enthusiast,the customized menu, customized content, and/or customizedadvertisements may related to coffee topics.

Additionally, when IVR system 136 is constructing customized menus basedupon call data include the user's previously recorded interactions, themenu application may utilize a variety of techniques and parameters. Forexample, the menu application may base the construction of custom menusupon the most recent IVR response, call data, and/or user data.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram of a method implemented by the IVR system136 and/or the correlating system 102 for online data-linkedtelecommunications decisioning and distribution, according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The method may be performed inpart or in full by the IVR system 136 and/or the correlating system 102.Some or all steps may be executed by a processor, and stored as anon-transitory computer-executable instructions in a memory.

At step 302, a business 126, an IVR system 136, and/or an onboardingsystem 104 may receive a telephone call from a telephone and/or mobiledevice 106 of a user. For example, a user may utilize telephone and/ormobile device 106 to dial a business telephone number. As describedabove, the business 126, the IVR system 136, and/or onboarder 104 mayuse automatic number identification and/or a caller ID to determine thetelephone number of telephone and/or mobile device 106. The business126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder 104 may also determine the dialednumber. The business 126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder 104 may storecall data, such as the user's telephone number, the time of the call,the number dialed, and so on. After the business 126 and/or onboardersystem 104 receives the telephone call from the user, the business 126and/or onboard system 104 may transfer the telephone call to the IVRsystem 136.

At step 204, the business 126, IVR system 136, and/or onboarder 104 maytransmit call data to the correlating system 102. Alternatively, thebusiness 126 and/or onboard 104 may transmit the call data to IVR system136, which may in turn transmit the call data to the correlating system102. For example, the IVR system 136 may determine which call data totransmit to the correlating system 102 for determining content and/oradvertisements to present to the user. The IVR system 136 may include atelephone number of the user, a time and date of the call, informationabout the business using the IVR system, and IVR data from the users'interactions with an IVR system. For example, while using an IVR system,the user may enter and/or provide information to the IVR system. Thiscall data may be transmitted to the correlating system 102 fordetermining content and/or advertisements to present to the user duringthe user's telephone call with the IVR system.

At step 306, the IVR system 136 and/or the correlating system 102 mayreceive call data relating to interactions by the user with the IVRsystem. When the IVR system 136 is performing the functions ofcorrelating system 102, it may receive the call data directly from theuser. When the IVR system 136 does not perform the functions ofcorrelating system 102, the IVR system 136 may transmit the call data tocorrelating system 102, and correlating system 102 may receive the calldata relating to interactions by the user with the IVR system via theIVR system 136. As discussed above, the call data may also include thephone number of telephone and/or mobile device 106 of the user and othercall data relating to the telephone call.

At step 308, the correlating system 102 may receive user data relatingto a user's interactions with one or more publisher servers 110. Asdiscussed above, the user data may include a user identifier relating tothe user and other data relation to the user.

At step 310, the correlating system 102 may access a correlating systemdatabase 102A that stores correlated call data and user data. Then, atstep 312, the correlating system 102 may use the received telephonenumber of telephone and/or mobile device 106 to retrieve call data anduser data correlated to the telephone number from the database 102A. Forexample, the system may use the phone number of telephone and/or mobiledevice 106 to retrieve a corresponding user identifier provided by apublisher server 110 and stored with the database 102A, along withcorresponding user data stored in association with the user identifier.The correlating system 102 may also retrieve call data stored in thedatabase 102A, as well as a confidence score of the associated useridentifier that correlates to the telephone number.

At step 314, the correlating system 102 may determine whether theconfidence score is within a threshold value. At step 316, if theconfidence score is within a threshold value, the correlating system 102may correlate the received call data from an IVR system 136 with theretrieved user data and call data stored in the database 102A.

At step 318, the correlating system 102 may determine an IVR responsefor the IVR system 136 to transmit to the user based on the receivedcall data and the retrieved user data and call data when the confidencescore is within the threshold value. Then, at step 320, the correlatingsystem 102 may transmit the determined IVR response to a telephoneand/or mobile device 106 of the user via the IVR system 136. The IVRresponse may include content and/or advertisements to present to theuser. The content and/or advertisements being based on the call data anduser data associated with the user.

For example, the correlating system 102 may request that the IVR system136 present dynamic menus, customized content, and/or advertisements tothe user via telephone and/or mobile device 106. If the user based onthe call data and user data is determined to be a sports fan, thecontent and/or advertisements presented by the IVR system in the IVRresponse may relate to sports. If the user based on the call data anduser data is determined to be a coffee enthusiast, then the contentand/or advertisements may related to coffee. Upon presenting the IVRresponse, the IVR system 136 may notify the correlating system 102 whenthe content and/or advertisement has been delivered to the user. The IVRresponse including the content and/or advertisement may be tailored toencourage the user to complete a transaction and/or engage with the IVRsystem 136. For example, the IVR response may allow a user to bypassunnecessary menus in the IVR system 136 that would otherwise makecompleting or reinitiating the transaction more cumbersome. For example,the user may be presented a special phone number for directly reaching aperson (e.g., bypassing the IVR) who can directly engage the user.Additionally, the IVR response may allow the user to bypass menus thatmay not be relevant to the user. In some embodiments, the IVR responsemay be based on historical call data and user data, along with presentcall data and user data. For example, the IVR response may be based on apast advertisement already presented to the user, past purchases of theuser, known likes or dislikes of a user, demographic informationcharacterizing the user, etc.

At step 320, the determined IVR response may be transmitted to the uservia the IVR system 136. After the determined IVR response is transmittedto the user, the IVR system 136 may receive additional call data fromthe user. The IVR system 136 may transmit the new call data to thecorrelating system 102. Correlating system 102 at step 322 may receivethe call data relating to interactions with the IVR system 136 by theuser. The, at step 324, the correlating system 102 may update the newlyreceived call data from an IVR system 136 with the retrieved user dataand call data stored in the database 102A. Then, the correlating system102 may proceed to step 318 to determine a new IVR response based on theupdated correlated call data and user data.

FIG. 4 is a simplified functional block diagram of a computer that maybe configured as the user devices, IVR systems, servers, CDN, platforms,and/or exchanges for executing the methods, according to exemplary anembodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, in one embodiment,any of the user devices, IVR systems, servers, CDN, platforms, and/orexchanges may be an assembly of hardware 400 including, for example, adata communication interface 460 for packet data communication. Theplatform may also include a central processing unit (“CPU”) 420, in theform of one or more processors, for executing program instructions. Theplatform typically includes an internal communication bus 410, programstorage, and data storage for various data files to be processed and/orcommunicated by the platform such as ROM 430 and RAM 440, although thesystem 400 often receives programming and data via networkcommunications. The system 400 also may include input and output ports450 to connect with input and output devices such as keyboards, mice,touchscreens, monitors, displays, etc. Of course, the various systemfunctions may be implemented in a distributed fashion on a number ofsimilar platforms, to distribute the processing load. Alternatively, thesystems may be implemented by appropriate programming of one computerhardware platform.

Program aspects of the technology may be thought of as “products” or“articles of manufacture” typically in the form of executable codeand/or associated data that is carried on or embodied in a type ofmachine-readable medium. “Storage” type media include any or all of thetangible memory of the computers, processors or the like, or associatedmodules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives,disk drives and the like, which may provide non-transitory storage atany time for the software programming. All or portions of the softwaremay at times be communicated through the Internet or various othertelecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enableloading of the software from one computer or processor into another, forexample, from a management server or host computer of the mobilecommunication network into the computer platform of a server and/or froma server to the mobile device. Thus, another type of media that may bearthe software elements includes optical, electrical and electromagneticwaves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices,through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links.The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wirelesslinks, optical links, or the like, also may be considered as mediabearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted tonon-transitory, tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer ormachine “readable medium” refer to any medium that participates inproviding instructions to a processor for execution.

While the presently disclosed methods, devices, and systems aredescribed with exemplary reference to transmitting data, it should beappreciated that the presently disclosed embodiments may be applicableto any environment, such as a desktop or laptop computer, an automobileentertainment system, a home entertainment system, etc. Also, thepresently disclosed embodiments may be applicable to any type ofInternet protocol.

As will be recognized, the present disclosure is not limited to theseparticular embodiments. For instance, although described in the contextof content and advertisements presented during an interactive voiceresponse session by a user and/or the context of content andadvertisements displayed on web pages of websites, the presentdisclosure may also be used in other types of interactive systems thatsupport the display of selectable advertisements, such as interactivetelevision systems.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from consideration of the specification and practice of thedisclosure disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for onlinedata-linked telecommunications decisioning and distribution, the methodcomprising: receiving, over an electronic network, call data relating toa telephone call from a telephone device of a user; accessing, by atleast one processor, a database storing correlated call data and onlineattribution data; retrieving, by the at least one processor, correlatedcall data and online attribution data based on the call data; anddetermining, by the at least one processor, an automated voice menu topresent to the user, based on the correlated call data and onlineattribution data.
 2. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, over the electronic network, user data relatingto interactions by a computing device of the user with a publisherserver, the user data including a user identifier of the user.
 3. Themethod according to claim 2, further comprising: accessing, by at leastone processor, a database storing correlated call data and user data;retrieving, by the at least one processor, correlated call data and userdata based on the user identifier of the user data; and correlating, bythe at least one processor, the received user data with retrieved calldata and user data.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calldata includes at least one of call metadata, a telephone number dialed,a call time, a call date, a length of the phone call, responses by theuser to an automated voice system, and data related to the user calling.5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, overthe electronic network, updated call data relating to the telephone callfrom the telephone device of the user to an automated voice system; andcorrelating, by the at least one processor, the updated call data withretrieved call data and online attribution data.
 6. The method accordingto claim 5, further comprising: determining, by the at least oneprocessor, an updated automated voice response to present to the uservia the automated voice menu, based on the correlated updated call dataand online attribution data; and transmitting, over the electronicnetwork, the determined updated automated voice response to theautomated voice menu for presentation to the telephone device of theuser.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the call datacomprises a phone number dialed, and further comprising: determining theautomated voice menu based at least in part on the phone number dialed.8. A system for online data-linked telecommunications decisioning anddistribution, the system including: at least one data storage devicethat stores instructions system for online data-linkedtelecommunications decisioning and distribution; and at least oneprocessor configured to execute the instructions to perform a methodincluding: receiving, over an electronic network, call data relating toa telephone call from a telephone device of a user; accessing, by atleast one processor, a database storing correlated call data and onlineattribution data; retrieving, by the at least one processor, correlatedcall data and online attribution data based on the call data; anddetermining, by the at least one processor, an automated voice menu topresent to the user, based on the correlated call data and onlineattribution data.
 9. The system according to claim 8, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute the instructions to performthe method including: receiving, over the electronic network, user datarelating to interactions by a computing device of the user with apublisher server, the user data including a user identifier of the user.10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to execute the instructions to perform the method including:accessing, by at least one processor, a database storing correlated calldata and user data; retrieving, by the at least one processor,correlated call data and user data based on the user identifier of theuser data; and correlating, by the at least one processor, the receiveduser data with retrieved call data and user data.
 11. The systemaccording to claim 8, wherein the call data includes at least one ofcall metadata, a telephone number dialed, a call time, a call date, alength of the phone call, responses by the user to an automated voicesystem, and data related to the user calling.
 12. The system accordingto claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to execute theinstructions to perform the method including: receiving, over theelectronic network, updated call data relating to the telephone callfrom the telephone device of the user to an automated voice system; andcorrelating, by the at least one processor, the updated call data withretrieved call data and online attribution data.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured toexecute the instructions to perform the method including: determining,by the at least one processor, an updated automated voice response topresent to the user via the automated voice menu, based on thecorrelated updated call data and online attribution data; andtransmitting, over the electronic network, the determined updatedautomated voice response to the automated voice menu for presentation tothe telephone device of the user.
 14. The system according to claim 8,wherein the call data comprises a phone number dialed, and furthercomprising: determining the automated voice menu based at least in parton the phone number dialed.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause thecomputer to perform a method for online data-linked telecommunicationsdecisioning and distribution, the method including: receiving, over anelectronic network, call data relating to a telephone call from atelephone device of a user; accessing, by at least one processor, adatabase storing correlated call data and online attribution data;retrieving, by the at least one processor, correlated call data andonline attribution data based on the call data; and determining, by theat least one processor, an automated voice menu to present to the user,based on the correlated call data and online attribution data.
 16. Thecomputer-readable medium according to claim 15, further comprising:receiving, over the electronic network, user data relating tointeractions by a computing device of the user with a publisher server,the user data including a user identifier of the user.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium according to claim 16, further comprising:accessing, by at least one processor, a database storing correlated calldata and user data; retrieving, by the at least one processor,correlated call data and user data based on the user identifier of theuser data; and correlating, by the at least one processor, the receiveduser data with retrieved call data and user data.
 18. Thecomputer-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the call dataincludes at least one of call metadata, a telephone number dialed, acall time, a call date, a length of the phone call, responses by theuser to an automated voice system, and data related to the user calling.19. The computer-readable medium according to claim 15, furthercomprising: receiving, over the electronic network, updated call datarelating to the telephone call from the telephone device of the user toan automated voice system; and correlating, by the at least oneprocessor, the updated call data with retrieved call data and onlineattribution data.
 20. The computer-readable medium according to claim15, wherein the call data comprises a phone number dialed, and furthercomprising: determining the automated voice menu based at least in parton the phone number dialed.